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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Uprooted

“Look after each other so that none of
you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of
bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”

Hebrews 12:15, NLT

Our backyard garden was in definite need of
attention a few weeks ago, and I was amped to go pull weeds. Easy enough,
right? As I sunk my hands deep into the earth, I could smell the scents that
Spring brings, the warm sunshine all around, and the blessing of being able to
dig deep into the dirt of a garden we haven’t been able to touch in a few
seasons. What I had envisioned being a very routine task had suddenly
transformed into a very visceral, Spirit-led experience. As I reached over to
pull what seemed to be a standard, run-of-the-garden weed, I realized that
particular one was going to take both hands and some oomph, and when that
didn’t quite work, even more oomph…until I found myself on my behind in the
middle of the garden, scalped weed-top in one hand, remainder of the weed
firmly rooted in the soil, laughing at my inability to uproot what looked like
a harmless weed. Thoughts like, “This is going to be a lot harder than I
initially anticipated. This is going to take a lot longer than I thought. I
can’t do this on my own,” ran through my mind.

It occurred to me I needed to pull out the big
gun…the 16-inch spade. That weed had met its match and I was determined to
uproot it and all of the others. As I dug down deeper and deeper, what looked
to be just some run-of-the-garden weeds had roots that were anything but. Those
deeply rooted weeds, if left unattended would suck every bit of goodness out of
what is supposed to be fertile soil, and completely uprooting each of them was
going to require patience, care, and a lot of time.

In those moments the Spirit moved…how these deeply
rooted weeds in our backyard garden symbolized the deeply rooted weeds in my
very own heart—stubborn, winding, gripping, and honestly, just plain
disgusting. Personally, those deeply rooted weeds often come in the forms of
unfounded fear, unnecessary worry, or pointless anxiety. For others, roots may
grow deeply in the forms of idolatry, hostility, jealousy, selfish ambition,
dissension, envy….

It wasn’t until I dug out that stubborn weed from
tip to top in the middle of our backyard garden that I felt the sheer Joy of
fully uprooting something so life-sucking from what is meant to be fertile,
life-giving soil. I—and I’m not exaggerating—was geeked about it! I could not
have imagined how Spiritually cathartic uprooting that particular weed was
going to feel. Then, the stirring of the Spirit again…so simply, yet very
profoundly, “This is how God feels when He uproots each deceptive weed from the
garden of your heart that is rightfully His.” Boom. God is stoked to be our
Holy Gardener!

Satisfaction amplified with each weed I fully
uprooted, so much so that I found myself standing in the middle of the dirt,
holding the uprooted ugliness and proclaiming out loud, “Wow! Look at that!”
Can you even begin to imagine the Supernatural Joy our God relishes in each
time we give Him permission to uproot a gnarly, bitter root from the garden of
our hearts?!

Are we willing to invite Him into what can often
be nothing but a surly weed patch, full of seemingly dainty weeds growing right
alongside those stubborn, prickly, deeply rooted, better-just-left-alone or
easier-to-ignore weeds? Are we willing to submit our hearts to the Holy weeding
that is often a difficult, painstaking, how-long-will-this-take process?

Those bitter roots have no place in the garden of
our hearts. They are smothering and encumber—sometimes altogether block—the
Holy Spirit from springing up, breaking through, and producing sanctified fruit
in each of us. It’s time to dig up, pull up, rip up, and fully uproot all of
the gnarly weeds. Are thoughts like, “This is going to be a lot harder than I
initially anticipated. This is going to take a lot longer than I thought. I
can’t do this on my own,” running through your mind? Go ahead, grab your big
garden spade and make an appointment with the Holy Gardener. He’s ready to turn
over some new soil.

1 comment:

What an eye opener! It's sad & scary to think that the proverbial weeds that grow within our hearts hinder the work of the Holy Spirit producing fruit. You are so right on, Alyson! Our hearts are fertile soil! What a great reminder and great challenge for how we care for the gardens of our souls. Thank you so much for this today.